Henry L. “Hank” Bart Jr.
Research in my lab deals broadly with diversity of fishes; taxonomic diversity, ecological diversity, and diversity of environmental adaptation. Most of my work involves freshwater fishes - especially darters (Percidae: Etheostomatinae), suckers (Catostomidae) and minnows (Cyprinidae, mostly in Africa) - and encompasses studies of taxonomy, morphology, life history, ecology and responses of these and other groups of fishes to environmental change and degradation. I collect fishes in the field, work with specimens archived in museums, and use molecular techniques to study relationships of fishes based on DNA sequences.
Contact Information
Tulane University Biodiversity Research Institute
Building A-3, Wild Boar Rd., Belle Chasse, LA 70037
E-mail address: hbartjr@tulane.edu
Voice: 504-394-1711; Fax: 504-394-5045
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Tulane University
400 Boggs Hall, New Orleans LA 70118
Voice: 504-862-8283; Fax: 504-862-8706
Current Positions
Director, Tulane University Biodiversity Research Institute (formerly, Tulane University Museum of Natural History, 1993-present)
Curator, Royal D. Suttkus Fish Collection (1992-present)
Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Tulane University (2007-present)
Training
B.S. Biology, University of New Orleans, 1979
M.S. Biology, University of New Orleans, 1981
Ph.D. Zoology, University of Oklahoma, 1985
Visiting Assistant Professor and Postdoctoral Research, University of Illinois, 1985-88
Online Researcher Profiles
Recent publications
Bart, H. Jr. L. O’Brien, D. Garcia. 2020. Acknowledging the Elephant in the Room. BioScience,
biaa043 (Letters), https://doi.org/10.1093/biosci/biaa043 .
Guyer, C., C. Murray, Henry L. Bart, Brian I. Crother,
Ryan E. Chabarria, M. A. Bailey, and K. Dunn. 2020. Color and size reveal three
new species of Necturus (Caudata: Proteidae) from the Gulf Coastal Plain of the United
States. J. Natural History, https://doi.org/10.1080/00222933.2020.1736677 [pdf]
O’Brien, L.T., H. L. Bart Jr. and D. Garcia. 2020. Why are there so few ethnic minorities in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology?: Challenges to inclusion and the role of sense of belonging. Social Psychology of Education, OPEN ACCESS https://doi.org/10.1007/s11218-019-09538-x
Bart, H.L. Jr., W.D. Nyingi, R.C.
Schmidt, J. Gathua. 2019. A new species of cyprinoid
fish (Actinopterygii: Danionidae) from the Tana
River, Kenya, Zootaxa. 4652: 533–543 [pdf].
Grace, M, M. H. Doosey, J. S. S. Denton, G. J. P. Naylor, H. L Bart Jr., and J. G. Maisey. 2019. A New Species of Kitefin Shark (Squaliformes: Dalatiidae) from the Gulf of Mexico. Zootaxa 4619:109-120. [pdf]
Schmidt, R. C., M. N. Dillon, N. M. Kuhn, H. L. Bart Jr., F. Pezold. 2019. Unrecognized and imperiled diversity in an endemic barb (Smiliogastrini, Enteromius) from the Fouta Djallon highlands. Zooscripta 48:605-613 [pdf]
Schmidt, R.C., H.L. Bart Jr. W.D. Nyingi. 2018. Integrative taxonomy of the red-finned barb, Enteromius (Agrammobarbus) apleurogramma (Cyprininae: Smiliogastrini) from Kenya, supports recognition of E. amboseli as a valid species. Zootaxa 4482 (3): 566–578 (doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4482.3.8). [pdf}
Denton, J. S., J. G. Maisey, M. Grace, A. Pradel, M. H. Doosey, H. L. Bart, Jr., G. Naylor. 2018. Cranial morphology in Mollisquama sp. (Squaliformes; Dalatiidae) and patterns of cranial evolution in dalatiid sharks. Journal of Anatomy 233(1):15-32 (doi: 10.1111/joa.12823). Featured Cover Article [pdf]
Chabarria, R.E., C.M. Murray, P.E. Moler, H. L. Bart Jr., B. I. Crother and C. Guyer. 2017. Historical Biogeography and Taxonomy of Necturus beyeri (Amphibia: Caudata). Journal of Zoological Systematics and Evolutionary Research (DOI: 10.1111/jzs.12203). [pdf]
Schmidt, R.C., H. L. Bart Jr., F. Pezold, J. P. Friel. 2017. A biodiversity hotspot heats up: nine new species of suckermouth catfishes (Mochokidae: Chiloglanis) from Upper Guinean Forest streams in West Africa. Copeia 105, No. 2, 2017, 301–338. [pdf]
Piller, K. R. and H. L. Bart Jr. 2017. Rediagnosis of the Tuckasegee Darter, Etheostoma gutselli (Hildebrand), a Blue Ridge endemic. Copeia 105, No. 3, 2017, 569–574 [pdf]
Schmidt, R.C., H. L. Bart Jr., W. D. Nyingi. 2017. Multi-locus phylogeny reveals widespread introgression and unrecognized diversity in Kenyan barbs (Cyprininae: Smiliogastrini). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 111 (2017) 35–43. [pdf]
Schmidt, R. C., H. Bart and F. Pezold. 2017. High levels of endemism in suckermouth catfishes (Mochokidae: Chiloglanis) from the Upper Guinean forests of West Africa. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 100:199-205. [pdf]
Ellwood, Libby Henry Bart, Michael Doosey, Dean Jue, Gil Nelson, Nelson Rios, Austin Mast. 2016. Mapping Life—Quality Assessment of Novice and Computer Automated vs. Expert Georeferences. Citizen Science: Theory and Practice, http://doi.org/10.5334/cstp.30
Schmidt, R.C. H. L. Bart Jr, W. D. Nyingi. 2015. Two new species of African suckermouth catfishes, genus Chiloglanis (Siluriformes: Mochokidae), from Kenya with remarks on other taxa from the area. Zootaxa 4044 (1):45-64. [pdf]
Schmidt, R.C. and H. L. Bart Jr. 2015. Nomenclatural changes should not be based on equivocally supported phylogenies: Reply to Yang et al. 2015. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 90 (2015) 193–194. [pdf]
Grace,
M.A., M.H. Doosey, H. L. Bart and G. J. P. Naylor. 2015. First record of
Mollisquama sp. (Chondrichthyes: Squaliformes: Dalatiidae) from
the Gulf of Mexico, with a morphological comparison to the holotype description
of Mollisquama parini
Dolganov. Zootaxa
3948: 587–600. [pdf]
Simon,
Thomas P., Charles C. Morris, Bernard R. Kuhajda, Carter R. Gilbert, Henry L.
Bart Jr, Nelson Rios, Paul M. Stewart, Thomas P. Simon IV, Mitt Denney. 2015.
Fishes of the Choctawhatchee River System in Southeastern Alabama and
Northcentral Florida. Southeastern Fishes Council Proceedings 01/2015;
55(1):1-54. [pdf]
Yu,
Kai, Xin Dang, Henry Bart Jr. and Yixin Chen.
2014. Robust Model-based Learning via Spatial-EM Algorithm. IEEE Transactions
on Knowledge and Data Engineering Issue No. 6 pp: 1670-1682. DOI
10.1109/TKDE.2014.2373355. [pdf]
Schmidt,
Ray C., Henry L. Bart Jr, Wanja D. Nyingi, Nathan N. Gichuki.
2014. Phylogeny of suckermouth catfishes (Mochokidae: Chiloglanis)
from Kenya: the utility of Growth Hormone introns in species level phylogenies.
Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 79:415-421. [pdf]
Doosey,
Michael H. and Henry L. Bart Jr. 2014. Buffalofishes.
Pp 258-263, In: M. Eberle (Ed.), Fishes of Kansas. University Press of
Kansas, Lawrence, KS. [pdf]
Jenkins,
J. A., H. L. Bart Jr., J. D. Bowker, P. R. Bowser, J. R. MacMillan, J. G.
Nickum, J. W. Rachlin, J. D. Rose, P. W. Sorensen, B.
E. Warkentine, and G. W. Whitledge.
2014. Guidelines for the Use of Fishes in Research. American Fisheries Society,
Bethesda, Maryland. [pdf]
Jenkins,
J. A., H. L. Bart Jr., J. D. Bowker, P. R. Bowser, J. R. MacMillan, J.
G. Nickum, J. W. Rachlin, J. D. Rose, P. W. Sorensen,
B. E. Warkentine, and G. W. Whitledge.
2014. Guidelines for Use of Fishes in Research - Revised and Expanded, 2014. Fisheries.[pdf]
Church,
J. R. Schmidt, H. Bart Jr, X. Dang, Y. Chen. 2013. Straightening 3-D
Surface Scans of Curved Natural History Specimens for Taxonomic Research.
Computer and Information Science, 215-229.[pdf]
Tang,
K.L., M. K. Agnew, M.V. Hirt, D.N. Lumbantobins, M.E.
Raley, T. Sado., V-H. Teoh,
L. Yang, H.L. Bart, P.M. Harris. S. He, M. Miya, K. Saitoh,
A.M. Simons, R.M. Wood, R.L. Mayden. 2013. Limits and phylogenetic
relationships of East Asian fishes in the subfamily Oxygastrinae
(Teleostei: Cypriniformes: Cyprinidae).
Zootaxa 3681 (2): 101–135. [pdf]
Suttkus, R.D., H.L. Bart Jr. and D. A. Etnier. 2012. A new darter of the subgenus Oligocephalus, genus Etheostoma,
from southeastern Texas and southwestern Louisiana. Tulane Studies in Zoology
and Botany 32(1): 6-30. [pdf]
Clements, M.D., H. L. Bart Jr. and D. L. Hurley. 2012.
A different perspective on the phylogenetic relationships of the Moxostomatini (Cypriniformes:
Catostomidae) based on cytochrome-b and Growth Hormone intron sequences.
Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 63:159–167. [pdf]
Doosey, M.H. and H. L. Bart Jr. 2011.
Morphological variation of the palatal organ and chewing pad of catostomidae (Teleostei: Cypriniformes).
J. Morphology 272: 1092-1108. [pdf]
Tang, K. L. M.K. Agnew, W-J. Chen, M.V.
Hirt, M.E. Raley, T. Sado,
L.M. Schneider, L. Yang, H. L. Bart Jr., S. He, H. Liu, M, Miya, K, Saitoh, A.M. Simons, R.M. Wood, R.L. Mayden. 2011.
Phylogeny of the gudgeons (Teleostei: Cyprinidae: Gobioninae). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 61:
103–124. [pdf]
Cashner, M.F., K.R. Piller,
H.L.
Bart Jr. 2011. Phylogenetic relationships of the North American cyprinid
subgenus Hydrophlox. Molecular Phylogenetics and
Evolution 59: 725–735. [pdf]
Albert, J.S., H.L. Bart Jr. and Roberto E.
Reis. 2011. Species richness and cladal diversity. pp 89-104 In: J.S. Albert and R.E. Reis (Eds.)
Historical Biogeography of Neotropical Freshwaters. University of California
Press. [pdf]
Saitoh, K., T. Sado, M.H. Doosey, H.L. Bart Jr., J.G. Inoue, M.
Nishida, R.L. Mayden, and M. Miya. 2011. Evidence from mitochondrial genomics
supports the lower Mesozoic of South Asia as the time and place of basal
divergence of cypriniform fishes (Actinopterygii: Ostariophysi).
Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 161:633–662. [pdf]
Cashner, M.F. and H. L. Bart Jr. 2010. Reproductive
Ecology of Nest Associates: Use of RFLPs to Identify Cyprinid Eggs. Copeia 2010(4): 554-557.[pdf]
Bart, H.L. Jr., M.D. Clements, R. E.
Blanton, K. R. Piller, D. L. Hurley. 2010. Discordant
molecular and morphological evolution in buffalofishes
(Actinopterygii: Catostomidae). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 56
(2010) 808–820. [pdf]
Bart, H.L. Jr., P.C. Reneau, M.H. Doosey, C.D. Bell. 2010. Evolutionary divergence of duplicate copies of the growth hormone gene in suckers (Actinopterygii: Catostomidae). International Journal of Molecular Sciences 11: 1090-1102. [pdf]
Doosey, M. H., H. L. Bart, Jr., K. Saitoh, and M. Miya. 2010. Phylogenetic relationships of Catostomid Fishes (Actinopterygii: Cypriniformes) based on Mitochondrial ND4/ND5 Gene Sequences. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 54 (2010) 1028–1034. [pdf]
Chen, Y., S. Huang, H. Chen, and H. L. Bart, Jr. 2010. Joint feature selection and classification for taxonomic problems within fish species complexes. Pattern Analysis and Applications 13 (2): 23–34. [pdf]
Constable, H., R. Guralnick, J. Wieczorek, C. Spencer, A. T. Peterson, H. Bart, J. Bates, G. Cotter, J. Hanken, C. Moritz, N. Simmons, L. Trueb. 2010. VertNet: A New Model for Biodiversity Data Sharing. PLoS Biol 8(2): e1000309. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.1000309.
Ongoing Collaborative Research Projects
Systematics of Fishes of Subfamily Ictiobinae
Systematics and Biodiversity of Cypriniformes
Machine Learning in Taxonomic Research
Fish Biodiversity Research and Education in Kenya
Collection-based research and technology development projects
(follow hyperlinks for details):
Led the effort to digitize and manually georeferenced records of the Royal D. Suttkus Fish Collection and a 10-year effort to make curatorial improvements to the RDS Fish Collection;
Directed development of the GEOLocate Software Platform (Nelson E. Rios, Lead Developer), which supports large-scale, automated georeferencing of digitized collection locality records;
Director of the Fishnet2 network of fish collection databases;
Lead PI Fishnet 2 Collaborative Georeferencing Project;
Lead PI Royal D. Suttkus Field Notes Project.
Graduate Trainees
Ray Schmidt, Ph.D. Biology, Tulane University 2013
Mollie Cashner, Ph.D. Biology, Tulane University, 2010
Michael Doosey, Ph.D. Biology, Tulane University, 2009
Mark Clements, Ph.D. Biology, Tulane University, 2008
Rebecca Johansen, Ph.D. Biology, Tulane University, 2007
Jeanine Burse, Ph.D., Biology, Tulane University, 2004
Kyle Piller, Ph.D., Biology, Tulane University, 2001
Christoph Walser, Ph.D., Biology, Tulane University, 1996
Justin Mann, M.S., Biology, Tulane University, 2012
Myra Kunas, M.S., Biology, Tulane University, 2003
Jason Tipton, M.S., Biology, Tulane University, 2002
Joseph Buckley, M.S., Biology, Tulane University, 1995
Dianne Greenfield, M.S., Biology, Tulane University, 1995
Andrea Brooks, M.S. Zoology and Wildlife Science, Auburn University, 1993
Jeffrey Harbaugh, M.S., Zoology and Wildlife Science, Auburn University, 1994
Postdoctoral Research Associates
Chuck Bell, 2005-2006
Paulette Reneau, 2008-2011
Michael Doosey, 2012-present
Diversity in STEM
Coordinated Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Minority training programs at the undergraduate and graduate levels at Tulane from 1996-2012. Served as Campus Coordinator for the Tulane Campus Program in the Louis Stokes Louisiana Alliance for Minority Participation (1996-2010). Played a role in mentoring the professional development of 243 minority undergraduates from Tulane and all of Louisiana’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities, 187 (77%) of whom completed bachelor’s degrees, 56 (23%) enrolled in graduate school, 28 (11.5%) earned Master’s degrees, 7 (3%) earned doctoral degrees, and 12 (5%) were candidates for doctoral degrees when my leadership ended in Fall 2010. Personally mentored the research of 19 program participants (18 African Americans and one Pacific Islander). Three of these students earned Master’s degrees in biological fields; one earned a Ph. D. in Neuroscience.
Served as Co-PI (with Tulane Provosts Lester Lefton and Michael Bernstein) and Project Director for the Graduate Alliance for Education in Louisiana (GAELA) from 2002-2012, which provided various forms of support to minorities pursuing doctoral degrees in STEM at Tulane University, Louisiana State University (LSU) and Southern University Baton Rouge (SUBR). A total of 169 STEM doctoral degrees were awarded to minorities by these institutions during the GAELA funding period (75 by Tulane, 85 by LSU, 9 by Southern Baton Rouge.
Actively working to increase participation of African American and other minorities in careers in ecology and evolutionary biology.